UKH

Bit of advice from the masses please...

Looking to spend in the region of £200 on a digital camera. I've had a few of Olympus' waterproof 'tough' cameras (cheap compacts in a hard shell) in the past (one stolen, one drowned(!) and one that broke under warranty,as did its two subsequent replacements prior to getting a refund), I use my GoPro if the weather is really terrible or if I'm climbing. Therefore whatever I buy should be fairly robust but not actually a tough camera.

Looking for something to take travelling and take general nice photos of interesting things.

What I'm actually looking for:
- a decent amount of optical zoom (ideally around 30x) for long shots
- good quality pictures in lower light
- viewfinder (not a deal breaker, but certainly preferred)
- decent battery life, perhaps 350+photos.
- video quality not too important (4K not a necessity!) as I have a GoPro
- doesn't need touch screen
- doesn't need a 'selfie' mode or adjustable screen
- not enormous (compact preferred for portability)
- doesnt need GPS or wifi, although I know these are becoming the norm...

Done a fair bit of googling and its fair to say that criticism is there for anything if you look hard enough. A couple of cameras that look quite good are the Panasonic Lumix TZ70 and the Sony - any thoughts anyone? Would consider a refurb if it meant getting a decent camera for less...

Thanks in advance.

In reply to shaymarriott:

If £200 is your budget then I recommend that you get a second hand compact. The last compact I bought was from this very site and it served me well until I passed it onto my sister.

People who sell their cameras, usually look after them and tend to upgrade rather than waiting until the camera dies. And, usually that upgrade is because the individual has been sucked into the marketing of the latest incremental update from camera 1.0 to camera 2.0. The older camera will still be worth having , but it won't have the added skin or logo change, but it will still work as well.

And, in my opinion, any compact for two hundred notes has got to be better than a gopro, surely?

Just pick any one of the reputable brand names and you can't go wrong.

Saying all that, I no longer own a compact camera. When I need a quick shot, I whip out my phone. I've got a sexy mirrorless camera for messing around with.

In reply to shaymarriott:

The TZ70 is a great. Whatever you go for get some sort of tripod, my phone with a tripod is often better than hand shots with the compacts.

In reply to shaymarriott:

If you want a compact at less than £200, also forget about viewfinders. There are compacts with half-decent viewfinders but they are expensive.
I've seen a friend's TZ70 and it seemed really nice but I haven't used it or seen the pics - however, the world seems to love this camera.

Or you could save 75% of your budget, cut the zoom to around 15x, and get a second hand compact superzoom from a few years ago e.g. Fujifilm F300EXR (or later models in that range - 550, 660 etc). I used to have the 300 and kind of liked it; sold it as I needed some cash at the time, and recently lost on an eBay auction for one (I was half-hearted and didn't bid very high, I think they go for around £40)

Or you could go bigger zoom and bulkier camera, and higher cost. Sony DSC HX400V. My sister has one and I love it. It is bulky but really quite light. It really does have a decent viewfinder and I managed to get some decent shots of surfers at full zoom on a bright beach day in Bali last summer.

In reply to shaymarriott:

Are you going to give any feedback to the advice offered so far?

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Apologies for the radio silence, I was away with work and ran out of mobile data.

Thank you very much for your replies and advice - I ended up going with a Lumix TZ70 (£30 cashback from Jessops which put it - almost! - in budget!)

Smythson - I fortunately already have a small tripod (GorillaPod) from many years back. Seems to do the job! I've found for taking photos such as night shots the tripod works well, especially when used with the auto timer to let it settle after pushing the button. I may well invest in a rigid tripod at some point though.

Blue Straggler - I think you're right about the viewfinder. The one on the TZ70 is small (although apparently an improvement on its predecessor) but definitely seems to help in bright light. Obviously the camera was a little over budget but your point still stands! I decided on a new camera in the end so there would be some sort of warranty in place. As far as a bigger camera goes, I wanted something small enough to pack into a small case. I was rather tempted by the Canon Powershot SX540HS which the other half has, but I wanted something smaller and without the rather delicate looking pop-out flash.

Anyway - so far I'm very happy with it, although it has yet to be tested in anger. I'm off to the Philippines and Borneo in a month so I'll report back afterwards!

Thanks again, Shay.

In reply to shaymarriott:

That looks like a nice bit of kit.
Can I quiz you re the time lapse please.
Does it take individually time lapsed photos or automatically stitch them together as a video?

In reply to Blue Straggler:

I think the photo world will come round to realising that the majority of people actually like viewfinders.

In reply to shaymarriott:

I tried to compare the TZ60/70 viewfinders indoors and couldnt tell the difference.

In reply to Dax H:

Honestly - I haven't actually tried the time lapse mode properly yet!

Once I have I'll get back to you on it. I would have thought it'd output as a video, much like an iPhone?

In reply to shaymarriott:
In my experience most time lapse modes just give you a load of pictures in whatever format you have set the thing to record. You will want to turn off raw and maybe turn down jpeg quality from max or you will fill up your memory card v quickly.

There are plenty of tools that will let you turn these back into movies on a computer.